An explosive new trailer for Guillermo del Toro's badass sci-fi actioner "Pacific Rim" has been released online after debuting at the WonderCon. The trailer is the most complete so far, featuring a ton of new stuff, some closer looks at the monsters and lots of epic battles and destruction. Hell, even the word "epic" fails to describe just how awesome this movie looks. "Pacific Rim" stars Charlie Hunnam, Rinko Kikuchi, Charlie Day, Idris Elba and Ron Perlman, and will be released on July 12, 2013 (3D).

It's time for more serious reflection in this new clip from "Iron Man 3" in which Rhodes (Don Cheadle) is worried about Tony's state of mind in the midst of all the chaos and destruction. The sequel is written and directed by Shane Black, the writer of "Lethal Weapon" and "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang", so I think the relationship between Tony and Rhodes is going to echo Black's buddy-film experience. "Iron Man 3" stars Robert Downey Jr., Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce, Ben Kingsley, Gwyneth Paltrow, Rebecca Hall and James Badge Dale and opens on May 3, 2013.

A new TV spot and poster have been released for "The Hangover Part III". The TV spot does show some new footage from the film, so it's worth a look and the poster is kind of funny in a Hangover kind of way. This time, one of the animals featured in the film, a giraffe, gets its own poster. The Hangover films have always had a special interest in animals (tigers, monkeys etc.), so the thid installment must remain faithful to the tradition. The film stars Bradley Cooper, Zach Galifianakis, Ed Helms, Heather Graham, Justin Bartha, John Goodman, Jamie Chung, Mike Epps, Mike Tyson, Jeffrey Tambor and Melissa McCarthy. "The Hangover Part III" opens in theaters on May 24, 2013.

Monday, April 29, 2013

Today we have a new clip and featurette for "Star Trek Into Darkness". The clip features a tense exchange between Chris Pine's Captain Kirk and the mysterious villain played by Benedict Cumberbatch. Both hit all the right notes, but Cumberbatch is a cold and calculated show-stealer. Looks like a great villain is in the making here. The featurette is a character profile of Captain Kirk and Pine talks a bit about where the character stands in the sequel. "Star Trek Into Darkness" is directed by J.J. Abrams ("Super 8", "Lost") and also stars Zoe Saldana, Zachary Quinto, Benedict Cumberbatch, Karl Urban, Alice Eve, Simon Pegg, Peter Weller, Anton Yelchin and John Cho The release dates are May 15, 2013 (IMAX 3D) and May 17, 2013 (2D and 3D).

A new and final trailer for "Fast & Furious 6" has hit the Internet at full speed. It's a really cool trailer with lots and lots of mangled vehicles, huge explosions and crafty fight choreography, but it also previews a scene towards the end that kind of bugs me. I am aware that the "Fast & Furious" franchise was never in good relations with the concepts of "realism" and "physics", but that final trailer shot of Vin Diesel and Michelle Rodriguez flying through the air like that is just plain silly. Just a few days ago when I posted the "Flip Car Featurette", I was praising the filmmakers for not abusing CGI in their stunts. I guess I have to take that back now. Anyway, I hope it looks better in the film than it does in the trailer. "Fast & Furious 6" stars Paul Walker, Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Gina Carano, Jordan Brewster and Luke Evans, and will open on May 24, 2013.

Three new movie clips from Nicolas Winding Refn's crime thriller "Only God Forgives" have been released. The clips are surprisingly lengthy and preview both the film's brutal violence, the surreal colorful visuals and Kristin Scott Thomas' wonderful performance. "Only God Forgives" stars Ryan Gosling, Kristin Scott Thomas, Vithaya Pansringarm and Yayaying Rhatha Phongam. The release date is set for July 19, 2013, but will also premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in May.

A batch of 7 movie clips for Baz Luhrmann's version of F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby" have been released by Warner Bros. and brought online by Collider. With all the sparkly publicity which tried to sell the film as a non-classical adaptation of the book, the clips shown by the studio focus on exactly the classical feel of the story. So, no Fergie songs here. Instead, we do get some rather bland acting from the cast. Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan, Tobey Maguire, Isla Fisher and Elizabeth Debicki look the part, but don't seem to act the part. Only Joel Edgerton feels like the right choice for the role and really puts his back into it. It could just be a false first impression, or maybe the studio chose the wrong clips to promote the film. Or, maybe the clips don't work so well out of context. I do hope they pull it off, because I'm a fan of risk-taking filmmakers and have loved Luhrmann's films so far. "The Great Gatsby" opens on May 10, 2013 (in 3D).

This post contains all the news, trailers, movie clips, DVD/Blu-Ray releases and many more, that you may have missed in the last seven days, arranged in an accessible manner. Just browse and click the article titles you want to read. Read the full article to check out the weekly summary.

Sunday, April 28, 2013

Michael Bay's dark comedy "Pain & Gain" was this weekend's box-office king. The Mark Wahlberg and Dwayne Johnson starrer opened at #1 with $20M and almost made back its $26M budget in 3 days. While nowhere near the size of "Transformers", it's not bad for the director's first small budget outing. Meanwhile, another small budget R-rated comedy, "The Big Wedding", opened in a much worse 4th place with only $7.5M, despite boasting a high-caliber cast that included Robert De Niro, Diane Keaton, Susan Sarandon, Amanda Seyfried and Katherine Heigl. Compare their weekend earnings with its $35M budget and it spells T-R-O-U-B-L-E.

Sylvester Stallone has found a director for "The Expendables 3". The chosen one is newcomer Patrick Hughes, who broke out as a filmmaker with the modern western thriller "Red Hill". The third installment in the action franchise will once again star a number of veteran action stars and the new cast additions include Wesley Snipes and possibly Jackie Chan, if Stallone can convince the latter to join.

Scarlett Johansson will star in Luc Besson's new action thriller "Lucy". Johansson will star as "a woman who is forced to become a drug mule. But the drug instead goes into her system, transforming her into an ass-kicking machine. She can absorb knowledge instantaneously, is able to move objects with her mind and can’t feel pain and other discomforts.". The actress is currently filming "Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier", and the Besson flick will be next after work is done on the Marvel sequel.

Robert De Niro and Shia LaBeouf will star as a father and son spy team in "Spy's Kid". The film will most likely be directed by D.J. Caruso ("Disturbia"), who is currently in talks with Paramount, and is based on the true story of a convicted CIA veteran who, while in prison, used his son to continue his work.

Marvel Studios in now in control of all future adaptations of the "Daredevil" comics. The rights were previously owned by 20th Century Fox who made a first attempt in 2003 with Ben Affleck in the lead role, but the film was not a huge hit and received plenty of harsh reviews, so the studio was left trying to figure out how to reboot the franchise. Several directors were called upon in the last two years to bring Daredevil back, but all deals ultimately fell through. Fox was faced with the contractual deadline of having to deliver a new big screen adaptation, or forfeit the rights back to Marvel. Since they couldn't meet the deadline, they lost the rights. Maybe it's for the best. Marvel has a much better track record with films they produce, which includes the awesome hit "The Avengers" as well as "Thor", "Iron Man" and "Captain America".

Director Bryan Singer has shared some more information about "X-Men: Days of Future Past", the sequel to "X-Men: First Class". Through a Vine clip, shown below, we get the definitive confirmation of which characters will appear in the film. Besides the ones we already know of, Xavier, Magneto, Storm, Logan, Kitty Pryde, Iceman, Colossus, we also get two new characters called Bishop and Warpath. The two will probably be played by Omar Sy ("The Intouchables") and Booboo Stewart ("Twilight"), respectively, the two being the last actors to join the cast whose roles had not been mentioned at the time. And, I kind of like Singer's cryptic way of confirming the characters, although, I guess a regular press release would have been just as cool.

What is a flip car ? It's a car flipping cars. Confused ? No problem. In this latest behind-the-scenes featurette for "Fast & Furious 6", the filmmakers explain what it's all about, how this new vehicle was built and they provide some stunningly spectacular stunt footage of the flip car in action. It's really cool that all the stunts are done using practical effects. It's no surprise that the filmmakers insist on reminding us every time that what we see in the film is for real. We live in an age when visual effects have augmented movie reality to the point where it's hard to tell the difference between real and CGI. I don't doubt that this film will use CGI, but it's really cool to see real stunts that look so damn good. "Fast & Furious 6" stars Paul Walker, Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Gina Carano, Jordana Brewster and Luke Evans, and will open on May 24, 2013.

It's time for the full theatrical trailer for "RED 2". The sequel stars Bruce Willis, John Malkovich, Helen Mirren, Mary-Louise Parker, Byung-hun Lee, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Anthony Hopkins. The plot is presented in more detail in this new trailer and there's a much bigger story here which includes, among other things, nuclear weaponry and a visit to the Kremlin ("What happens in the Kremlin, stays in the Kremlin"). And just the idea of seeing Anthony Hopkins play a nutty scientist makes this worth the ticket price. The sequel is directed by Dean Parisot ("Fun With Dick and Jane", "Galaxy Quest") and will open on July 19, 2013.

Today we have a new trailer and poster for the thriller "The East" which stars Brit Marling as a corporate security employee who goes undercover within an anarchist group that has become a threat to the company she works for. Her loyalties, however, are shaken and things become more complicated when she falls in love with the group's charismatic leader, played by Alexander Skarsgard. Directed by Zal Batmanglij ("Sound of My Voice"), the film also stars Ellen Page, Patricia Clarkson, Julia Ormond, Shiloh Fernandez and Jason Ritter. "The East" opens on May 31, 2013.

Friday, April 26, 2013

The first behind-the-scenes featurette for the zombie thriller World War Z covers the basics of the film's plot. Director Marc Forster and actress Mireille Enos give us a quick rundown of the story and we also get some new footage in the process. The film looks massive and I hope it won't turn out to be a massive disappointment as well. The film stars Brad Pitt, Mireille Enos, Matthew Fox, James Badge Dale and David Morse. "World War Z" opens on June 21, 2013.

Tony Stark jumps to the rescue of Air Force One passengers in free fall and discusses his angst about the status of the world post-Avengers in two new clips from "Iron Man 3", the sequel directed by Shane Black ("Lethal Weapon", "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang"). The Air Force One sequence is particularly breathtaking and I can't wait to see it on the big screen. The film stars Robert Downey Jr., Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce, Ben Kingsley, Gwyneth Paltrow, Rebecca Hall and James Badge Dale and opens on May 3, 2013.

The third theatrical trailer for "Monsters University" has been released by Pixar. The prequel takes us back to the time when Sully and Mike first met while attending the Monsters University. Although they didn't start out as the best of friends, they must join forces in order to win the Scare Games. Failure is not an option. I have to admit the movie looks pretty darn funny and, maybe, Pixar could have another winner on their hands, one that might bring them back from the mixed results of last year's "Brave". "Monsters University" features the voices of Billy Crystal, John Goodman, Helen Mirren, Steve Buscemi, David Spade and Kelsey Grammer, and will be released on June 21, 2013.

We have the first trailer and poster for the horror film "In Fear". Alice Englert ("Beautiful Creatures") and Iain De Caestecker ("Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.") star as a couple who gets lost in the countryside while driving to a music festival. Being lost in the middle of nowhere is no picnic, but things get worse when an "unseen tormentor" stalks them and preys on their fears. It looks very promising and it's very interesting that most of the action will take place in the vehicle the two are driving. "In Fear" opens on August 30, 2013 in the UK.

The first trailer and poster for "Prince Avalanche" have been released. The film is a quirky offbeat comedy written and directed by David Gordon Green ("Pineapple Express") that stars Paul Rudd and Emile Hirsch as two highway workers who become the most unlikely friends ever while repainting traffic lines. "Prince Avalanche" will be released in theaters and VOD on August 9, 2013

Thursday, April 25, 2013

Four new character posters have been released for "RED 2" starring Bruce Willis, John Malkovich, Helen Mirren, Mary-Louise Parker, Byung-hun Lee, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Anthony Hopkins. The posters have a comic book look and accurately express the mix of badassness and humor that the first film handled so well. The sequel is directed by Dean Parisot ("Fun With Dick and Jane", "Galaxy Quest") and will open on July 19, 2013.

A new featurette and 3 TV spots for "Iron Man 3" have been released this week. These are basically the final pieces of promotion before the film opens on May 3rd. The featurette provides details about the "Extremis" technology featured in this sequel and the TV spots are more of the same: fast and furious action and a few new scenes. There's some greater focus on James Badge Dale's character, who has made some frequent appearances in the latest clips and he's also interviewed in the featurette. "Iron Man 3" is directed by Shane Black ("Lethal Weapon", "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang") and stars Robert Downey Jr., Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce, Ben Kingsley, Gwyneth Paltrow, Rebecca Hall and James Badge Dale. The release date is May 3, 2013.

A new TV spot for M. Night Shyamalan's "After Earth" has been released. The sci-fi adventure stars Will Smith and his son, Jaden Smith, as a father and his son, who crash on Earth, 1000 years after humanity was forced to abandon the planet. The father is critically injured, so their survival rests on the young boy's shoulders. The TV spot provides some interesting new scenes, including the evacuation of Earth. "After Earth" opens on June 7, 2013.

A new movie clip and 4 TV spots for Michael Bay's "Pain & Gain" have been released. It looks like Bay is about to improve his reputation as a filmmaker with this film, the director's first small budget feature since the days of "Bad Boys", which wasn't exactly a small budget flick, but it wasn't "Armageddon", either. Early reviews confirm that "Pain & Gain" is actually a film worth watching, but I like to keep early buzz off the table until all the reviews hit the Internet, so we can get a real idea about whether or not it's really a hit with the critics. "Pain & Gain" stars Mark Wahlberg, Dwayne Johnson, Anthony Mackie, Rob Corddry, Ed Harris, Ken Jeong, Tony Shalhoub and Rebel Wilson. The release date is April 26, 2013.

A second movie clip has been released today for J.J. Abrams' "Star Trek Into Darkness". In this new clip, Kirk (Chris Pine), Spock (Zachary Quinto) and Uhura (Zoe Saldana) perform a narrow escape. Literally. It's a fun scene and it's nice that they've decided to release a preview of one of the action scenes from the movie. Expect more clips to come in the following days. "Star Trek Into Darkness" stars Chris Pine, Zoe Saldana, Zachary Quinto, Benedict Cumberbatch, Karl Urban, Alice Eve, Simon Pegg, Peter Weller, Anton Yelchin and John Cho The release dates are May 15, 2013 (IMAX 3D) and May 17, 2013 (2D and 3D).

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

A new trailer for Sofia Coppola's "The Bling Ring" has been released. This is the full theatrical trailer and there are plenty of details here. Emma Watson, Taissa Farmiga, Israel Broussard, Katie Chang and Claire Julien star as a group of fame-obsessed teenagers who used the Internet to track celebrities' whereabouts in order to rob their homes. Watson is clearly in the spotlight here and if her performance is as good as the trailer seems to indicate, she can finally put the Harry Potter movies behind her. The Bling Ring" is set to open on June 14, 2013.

We have two new images and a new poster for the upcoming adaptation of Stephen King's "Carrie". If you're looking for some new details about this new version, you won't be satisfied by this material. The images feature Chloe Grace Moretz and Julianne Moore, and the poster is a darker more photoshopped version of the iconic image of Carrie drenched in blood. Also starring are Judy Greer, Portia Doubleday, Ansel Elgort, Alex Russell and Gabriella Wilde. "Carrie" is directed by Kimberly Peirce ("Boys Don't Cry") and will open on October 18, 2013.

Seven new character posters have been released for J.J. Abrams' "Star Trek Into Darkness". The posters are blurry depcitions of actors Chris Pine, Zoe Saldana, Zachary Quinto, Benedict Cumberbatch, Karl Urban, Alice Eve and John Cho. It's nice to have something Star Trek-related to look at every week, but the publicity campaign for this sequel is too bland, and these posters take the cake. They basically recycled some of the previous poster art, slapped some sepia tones to them and added some supporting characters to the mix. Let's hope the film is better than this. The release dates are May 15, 2013 (IMAX 3D) and May 17, 2013 (2D and 3D).

The cast and filmmakers of "Fast & Furious 6" reveal a big part of the plot for the sequel in this new behind-the-scenes featurette. Maybe even a little too much for my taste. But the brighter side is that we also get a lot of new footage from the movie, especially some awesome vehicle-crunching scenes. Maybe it's just me, but I feel that Michelle Rodriguez's character being forced back into the story is a bit too soap opera-ish. I hate it when they bring back the dead. The same thing happened to "Prison Break" and it never recovered. But enough ranting. The film stars Paul Walker, Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Gina Carano, Jordana Brewster and Luke Evans. "Fast & Furious 6" opens on May 24, 2013.

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

The first trailer and two new images for Marvel's "Thor: The Dark World" have been released. Fans will be relieved to see that the Thor sequel looks awesome and epic and will bring back all the actors from the first film. Speaking of the cast, the film stars Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Christopher Eccleston, Stellan Skarsgard, Idris Elba, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Kat Dennings, Ray Stevenson, Zachary Levi, Tadanobu Asano, Jaimie Alexander, Rene Russo and Anthony Hopkins. "Thor: The Dark World" is directed by Alan Taylor ("Game of Thrones") and opens on November 8, 2013.

The first two official images for "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" have surfaced online via director Marc Webb's Twitter account. The images feature actors Jamie Foxx and Dane DeHaan ("Chronicle"). Foxx stars as the villain Electro and DeHaan will play Harry Osborn. The film also stars Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Chris Cooper, Paul Giamatti, Shailene Woodley, Felicity Jones, Sally Field and Colm Feore. "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" opens on May 2, 2014.

Here is the official synopsis:

"In The Amazing Spider-Man 2, for Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield), life is busy – between taking out the bad guys as Spider-Man and spending time with the person he loves, Gwen (Emma Stone), high school graduation can’t come quickly enough. Peter hasn’t forgotten about the promise he made to Gwen’s father to protect her by staying away – but that’s a promise he just can’t keep. Things will change for Peter when a new villain, Electro (Jamie Foxx), emerges, an old friend, Harry Osborn (Dane DeHaan), returns, and Peter uncovers new clues about his past."

We have a new Japanese trailer for James Mangold's "The Wolverine" starring Hugh Jackman, Tao Okamoto, Svetlana Khodchenkova and Rila Fukushima. As with all international trailers, there are few notable differences from the first trailer, apart from a few scenes and some more story emphasis. "The Wolverine" takes place after the events in "X-Men: The Last Stand" and follows its titular character all the way to Japan where a mysterious man who owes him a life debt gives Logan a chance to become a mortal. The film is directed by James Mangold ("3:10 to Yuma", "Walk the Line") and will be released on July 26, 2013 (in 3D).

Monday, April 22, 2013

Here we go, Star Trek fans, this is the moment you've been waiting for. The first official movie clip from J.J. Abrams' "Star Trek Into Darkness" has been released. This clip is a preview of the film's IMAX prologue and it presents a tense scene in which Spock's fate hangs in the balance. The sequel stars Chris Pine, Zoe Saldana, Zachary Quinto, Simon Pegg, John Cho, Alice Eve, Peter Weller, Karl Urban and Anton Yelchin. The release dates are May 15, 2013 (IMAX 3D) and May 17, 2013 (2D and 3D).

The first trailer and poster for Keanu Reeves's directorial debut "Man of Tai Chi" have been released. The film is a spectacular Kung-Fu action flick starring Tiger Hu Chen as a young fighter who enters an underground martial arts tournament run by a nefarious character (Reeves) who plans to involve him in a circle of corruption and murder. The martial arts on display here are truly spectacular and benefits from the involvement of Yuen Woo-Ping, the choreographer for films like "The Matrix" and "Kill Bill". Reeves, on the other hand, has some dubious line delivery here. No release date has been announced, yet.

Mark Wahlberg tries to convince Anthony Mackie to join a life of crime in a new clip for Michael Bay's "Pain & Gain". The film also stars Dwayne Johnson, Tony Shalhoub, Rebel Wilson and Ed Harris. Opens on April 26, 2013.

A wedding derails in a funny way in this first clip from the ensemble comedy "The Big Wedding" starring Robert De Niro, Diane Keaton, Susan Sarandon, Amanda Seyfried, Katherine Heigl, Topher Grace and Robin Williams. Opens on April 26, 2013.

This post contains all the news, trailers, movie clips, DVD/Blu-Ray releases and many more, that you may have missed in the last seven days, arranged in an accessible manner. Just browse and click the article titles you want to read. Read the full article to check out the weekly summary.

The sci-fi adventure "Oblivion" starringTom Cruise ranked first in the box-office for the weekend of April 19-21, grossing $38 million, which is not bad at all, but the film was actually a much bigger hit on international markets where it grossed $112 million. The film had a budget of $120 million, so I'd say they're in the safe zone.

Continuing its succesful run is the Jackie Robinson biopic "42" starring Chadwick Boseman and Harrison Ford, which maintained a steady rythm, despite slipping down to #2. Its current weekend gross adds to a total of $54 million versus a budget of $40 million. Another awesome achiever is the animated feature "The Croods", still at #3 for a second consecutive week with a domestic gross of $154 million and a worldwide total of $426 million (budget $135 million). I sense a sequel coming soon.

"Scary Movie 5" continued to drop, currently situated at #4 with $6 million over the last 3 days, which brings its flimsy domestic total to $22 million. Foreign earnings are even worse ($3 million). Although it didn't cost that much to make (budget: $20 million), it's still a sign that the franchise needs to die or get rebooted somehow.

"G.I. Joe: Retaliation" rounds up the top 5 with $5.7 million over the weekend and a domestic total of $111 million. Once again, the international earnings are much healthier ($211 million), but overall the total gross covers all expenses (budget: $130 million).